Sex in the cinema: The topic is as lively, controversial and perplexing now as it was in the Roaring ’20s. That is when risque Hollywood movies with implied sexuality and “moral depravity” led to the Motion Picture Production Code. This Draconian self-censoring was imposed in 1930 but was only enforced from 1934 onward, with much Bible-thumping.

The issue today is different — yet the same. The Production Code was abandoned in 1968, years after it was obvious that some of the best American filmmakers — and many of the worst — had already flaunted its puritanical dictates. Just as obviously, liberalized European filmmakers had already opened up audiences to the frank depiction of human sexuality.

That brings us to 2014 and outrageous Danish director Lars von Trier. His two-part feature film, Nymphomaniac, is provoking and often outraging critics and audiences worldwide as it tells, in flashbacks, the story of a woman who proclaims herself a nympho. This is an amoral fable, filtered through the lens of a Danish madman.

In Canada, both parts, Nymphomaniac: Volume I and Volume II, will open March 21 in select theatres in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver (with more cities to follow). Separate tickets are required for each volume.

What is all the fuss about? Aside from much philosophizing and chatter about fly fishing and arcane mathematics, there is actual penetration sex, plus explicit scenes of cunnilingus, fellatio and sado-masochism. There are also brutal beatings that are eroticized by the characters.

As for the actors, none did their most explicit sex acts, despite Shia LaBeouf’s stated willingness to take the plunge and make it real. Instead, von Trier hired sex doubles, whose bodies parts were computerized in for name actors. Among them are leads Charlotte Gainsbourg and Stellan Skarsgard, along with Stacy Martin (who plays Gainsbourg’s character in her youth, LaBeouf (number one among her thousands of lovers), Christian Slater (her caring father), Connie Nielsen (her frigid mother) and Uma Thurman (briefly, her rival).

In a fascinating twist, the sex is sexless. It is not titillating nor sensual nor even interesting. This stands in stark contrast to the sensuality of the great French film, Blue is the Warmest Color (2013). In minute detail, Abdellatif Kechiche’s masterwork depicts the entire life cycle of a lesbian relationship, plumbing the very depths of a loving relationship. While the film remains controversial — because Lea Seydoux and Adele Exarchopoulos have pilloried their director for his demands — it retains its purity on-screen.

It is also incredibly sensuous, as you can see for yourself in the new Blu-ray release from Mongrel Media in Canada, coincidentally the same distributor handling Nymphomaniac. Blue is the Warmest Color reminds us that the depiction of human sexuality is context, not necessarily its explicit nature.

Look back to other “mainstream films” with explicit sex scenes, some with actual penetration:

• The Brown Bunny (2003): It remains a mystery whether writer-director-actor Vincent Gallo actually depicted his own erect penis for a fellatio scene, or whether he lifted a prosthetic from a French film set.

• The Lover (1992): Jean-Jacques Annaud’s erotic drama has several seconds of real intercourse between Jane March and Tony Leung Ka Fai.

• Don’t Look Now (1973): At the very least, Julia Christie and Donald Sutherland staged extremely bold sex scenes for the era; at most, they were caught “in the act.”

Sponsored Links

Mainstream movies featuring real sex

Sex in the cinema: The topic is as lively, controversial and perplexing now as it was in the Roaring ’20s. That is when risque Hollywood movies with implied sexuality and “moral depravity” led to the Motion Picture Production Code. This Draconian self-censoring was imposed in 1930 but was only enforced from 1934 onward, with much Bible-thumping.

The issue today is different — yet the same. The Production Code was abandoned in 1968, years after it was obvious that some of the best American filmmakers — and many of the worst — had already flaunted its puritanical dictates. Just as obviously, liberalized European filmmakers had already opened up audiences to the frank depiction of human sexuality.

That brings us to 2014 and outrageous Danish director Lars von Trier. His two-part feature film, Nymphomaniac, is provoking and often outraging critics and audiences worldwide as it tells, in flashbacks, the story of a woman who proclaims herself a nympho. This is an amoral fable,